NORRISTOWN — Omar Miller, the man sentenced Monday to life imprisonment for his role as “the muscle” during a deadly home invasion robbery that left a West Pottsgrove man dead, is no stranger to gun violence or to police.

Miller, 28, of Larchwood Street, Philadelphia, was gunned down and seriously injured by a rival on a Pottstown street in September 2010 and once faced charges he allegedly purchased an illegal handgun in Pottstown during the same month, according to court records.

Miller, who is also known as “O,” was shot at on Sept. 11, 2010, in the 300 block of Walnut Street, according to previous testimony during a hearing for convicted shooter Emanuel Uriah “Manny” Sumner. Authorities claimed that shooting was sparked by an ongoing feud.

During the 9:53 p.m. Sept. 11 shooting, the bullets missed Miller but struck the passenger rear door of a passing 1992 Oldsmobile station wagon that was traveling northbound on North Charlotte Street near Walnut Street, according to an arrest affidavit. A projectile traveled through the exterior of the door and lodged in the interior door panel.

Advertisement

While no one was injured during the Sept. 11 shooting, detectives recovered spent shell casings from a .380-caliber handgun along Walnut Street.

A ballistics expert subsequently determined the spent shell casings, as well as the projectile recovered from the Oldsmobile, were linked to the same .380-caliber handgun that authorities seized from Sumner while investigating a separate Sept. 26, 2010, shooting in the 300 block of Beech Street, during which Miller was seriously injured.

Miller suffered at least two gunshots, including one in the abdomen, and underwent numerous surgeries to repair the damage.

At least one witness told police they saw Sumner, wearing dark clothing and “wielding a dark in color semi-automatic handgun,” approach Miller, point the gun at Miller and fire the handgun, striking Miller in the abdomen, investigators wrote in court documents.

Authorities maintained the violence was linked to an ongoing feud between two rival groups, one composed of Pottstown natives and the other of Philadelphia natives who were living in Pottstown.

Sumner, now 23, formerly of the 500 block of Lincoln Avenue, Pottstown, was sentenced in February 2012 to 20 to 45 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder and firearms offenses in connection with five separate incidents, including the shootings at Miller, which occurred between 2010 and 2011.

Court records indicate Miller also was charged with a weapons-related offense in connection with a Sept. 13, 2010, incident during which prosecutors alleged Miller illegally purchased a .44-caliber handgun from an Amity Township, Berks County, man during a clandestine meeting in the area of Evans and Walnut streets in Pottstown.

However, after a two-day, October 2011 trial, a county jury acquitted Miller of a single charge of person not to possess, control or transfer firearms in connection with the alleged incident. Miller did not testify during his trial. But his defense lawyer at the time, Douglas B. Breidenbach Jr., argued prosecutors could not place any gun in Miller’s hands and that the Amity man’s testimony could not be trusted. Breidenbach implied the alleged gun seller was “highly motivated” to give authorities names of buyers in order to curry favor from prosecutors as he faced the probability of being charged with federal weapons offenses.

About the Author

Carl Hessler Jr. writes about crime and justice at the Montgomery County Courthouse for The Mercury and 21st Century Media Newspaper’s Greater Philadelphia area publications. A native of Reading, he studied at Penn State University and Kutztown University before graduating from Alvernia University with a degree in communications. He is a recipient of a National Headliner Award and has been honored for his writing by the Keystone Press Association, Philadelphia Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Press Managing Editors of Pennsylvania. Reach the author at chessler@pottsmerc.com
or follow Carl on Twitter: @MontcoCourtNews.